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Sequestration would affect Army training, the CH-47F Chinook helicopter program and other budgets that total $17 billion to $19 billion in Army readiness, says Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, who warned the cuts could create "a hollow force." "We'll very quickly go to extremely low levels of readiness in the next six months throughout the Army," he said.

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The Army is urging active and retired generals to tell legislators that another round of sequestration could cripple the military branch, according to an internal memo. "A major point is that unless we get relief from sequestration, the Army will soon be unable to fully execute Defense Strategic Guidance requirements and we will be on a path to a hollow Army," wrote Maj. Gen. Laura Richardson in the memo to the general-officer community.

Qatar Airways has placed a $19 billion order for 50 Boeing 777-9X jets and has an option to buy 50 more in a deal which follows Emirates' order for 150 of the 777X jets. Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Etihad Airways also are ordering the aircraft.

Defense leaders are warning that cuts to be imposed on the Pentagon budget after 2015 will render the U.S. military unable to fulfill its mission — and threaten national security. With fleet cuts, the Navy will "be on the HOV lane to hollow," says Adm. William Gortney, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, words that echo a warning from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, who said planned active-force cuts will create an army that is "too small."

Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff for the U.S. Army, detailed how sequestration is harming readiness for the service. "So what we are being forced to do is cut readiness, cut modernization, because we cannot cut end strength fast enough," he said.

The energy-and-climate bill authored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would reduce the federal deficit by $19 billion within 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The measure is also projected to increase government revenue by about $751 billion through 2020, mostly through the creation of a carbon market, the CBO said. "Many of our colleagues have said they flatly oppose anything that adds a penny to the deficit, so we hope they look anew at this initiative, which reduces it," said Kerry and Lieberman in a statement.